Tribune Violated Pact, Court Says

June 03, 1987

The Chicago Tribune violated a union contract when it promoted 19 apprentice pressmen to journeyman status in 1984 rather than take 19 journeymen from a union hiring hall, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an arbitrator and a lower court judge in a dispute between the newspaper and Chicago Web Printing Pressmen`s Union No. 7. The dispute stemmed from the union`s insistence that the company was contractually obligated to give lifetime job guarantees to 20 pressmen the paper requested from the hiring hall. The company disagreed and eventually promoted 19 apprentices, prompting a union grievance. A Tribune attorney had not yet seen the decision Tuesday and could not say whether the paper might appeal. A union lawyer said the company could ultimately be liable for damages in the form of as much as 10 months of income lost by 19 journeymen who might have been called to work before a 1985 strike, which is ongoing.